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Hawke is ambushed twice by the Carta gang in the Vimmark Wasteland. The first ambush comes just after they are met by the Carta messenger. The party is attacked by a gang which will include Carta thug, Carta sniper, and Carta overseer. The overseer drops the Eye of Blue.

The second ambush occurs after Hawke passes through the first wooden gates. The party is locked into an enclosure bounded by a wooden fence and walkways. The first enemy is a bronto, with more Carta thugs and Carta snipers on the walkways.

There are trap activation switches on the walkways to the north and south of the enclosure.

The key to the exit gate is in a chest on the hillside below the northern walkway. The passageway exits to the Vimmark Chasm. North, south and east of this arena are pillars with codex entries.

Hawke is lured by the Carta messenger into the main courtyard of a deserted fortified building and is immediately ambushed by the Carta, first by two brontos and then by a gang of Carta thugs. Once they are defeated, explore the courtyard and then unlock the with the required key.

There is a smaller courtyard to the north of the main courtyard with two rooms leading off it with some useful loot, including health potions and some high level class-specific armor for Hawke. The party will be ambushed again by the Carta on coming back down the stairs from the northernmost room into the smaller courtyard. The ambushers include lots of Carta snipers and two Carta assassins.

Note: If a party member can reach the trap switch in the middle of the small courtyard next to the decaying tree, it will damage the Carta thugs.

The steps to the south of the main courtyard lead to a room containing the key to the eastern gate, Twisted Steel Ring, and a viewpoint across to the Warden's Prison. The party is once again ambushed by the Carta on leaving the small room, including more Carta snipers and a Carta overseer.

Using the key to open the gate at the east of the main courtyard, exit into the eastern passage, down steps carved into the hillside. The party is then attacked again by the Carta (thugs and a master sniper). The exit from the area goes to Carta Hideout.

On entering the hideout, there is an attack by a Carta thug and a Carta sniper in a room containing a trap.

In the room with the already-dead bronto corpse, there is another Carta ambush. There are a few Carta thugs on the floor of the room, but the main threats are the massed snipers on the balconies above the room. To melee attack the snipers, party members need to pass south through the dead bronto room, up the stairs in the next room, then turn right immediately before the caged live bronto. The first piece of the Regalia of Weisshaupt unique armor set - the boots - is in a chest on this balcony:

Next, is a caged bronto. If released, it will attack or it can be left in the cage. There are three locked doors opposite the cage. Each holds treasure, as well as health potions and injury kits. The third door is master locked, with two treasure piles of levelled gold.

After passing through this room, Hawke will come across a small staircase leading down to a chest containing an object called Warm Orb. After collecting it, backtracking to the Vimmark Wasteland and then to the large enclosure at the Carta fort entrance, will reveal a Pulsing Obelisk. Activating it will summon the secret boss named Malvernis. This is a 3 part battle, see Strategy for details. He will drop Smite and Ichor when defeated. Proceed back to where the orb was found.

A few rooms later, after some further brushes with the Carta, the passage turns north and opens into a larger room with disused mine carts and mine shaft entrances. Gerav, an acquaintance of Varric, appears. There is a cutscene with interaction between Varric and Gerav that eventually leads to combat. Gerav drops Turquoise Ring of the Archon.

Note: There is (+5) from Varric if "Call on companion" dialogue option is selected during conversation with Gerav.

After a fight on the curved stone steps against a Carta mob (including a Coterie alchemist and thugs), there is a griffon statue (similar to that in the Hawke Estate or Gamlen's House as is used to trigger Legacy) which can transport the party back to Kirkwall temporarily. This is the final chance to resupply in Kirkwall.

Don't miss the crate with over 7 sovereigns and a few other items, behind the statue.

If you use this statue, you can change your party and restock goods etc.

Note: This is your last chance to the engage secret boss Malvernis. Going through the metal gate makes the previous areas inaccessible

Once the party passes through the metal gate next to the statue, it locks and they are locked into the hideout. The Carta leader, Rhatigan appears. There is a fight with Rhatigan, his pet bronto and the Carta snipers supporting him. If the party moves to the upper walkway, the Bronto will be unable to attack you while you deal with Rhatigan and the other Carta thugs. Alternatively, if the party hugs the south wall below most of the snipers, they can cut off the firing angles of many of the snipers while repeatedly hitting them with AoE attacks and dealing with the bronto and Rhatigan on the ground level. The traps in this area can be highly effective to deal with the snipers. This trap kills all of the snipers, be careful not to put any other characters near them. Loot Rhatigan's body to obtain the The Hawke's Key. Exit through the Passage Down.

Note: It is a good idea to put all unnecessary/junk items in the chest as there will be no vendors or storage chests further on.

In the large room just north of the entry point, there is an encounter with a group of Genlocks and Hurlocks. Here is the first of several magical prisons housing demons. In this one, a Shade is imprisoned here. The voice of Malcolm Hawke, Hawke's father, speaks to confirm that all manner of demons have been bound in the prison. To kill the Shade, it is necessary to activate the two glowing trigger points called a Mark of the Binder on nearby walls and then activate the third trigger point on the magical barrier which releases the demon. The fight involves the imprisoned Shade and several replicas. Once all of the demons have been killed, the quest Malcolm's Will is triggered.

Note: Any party member can activate a seal, including Hawke when Hawke's Key is not equipped. However, once the activation cutscene is complete, the Key will be re-equipped.

Further into Sashamiri's Floor Hawke encounters Larius for the first time and engages in dialog. Continue along and the party will come to the first seal. Activating the seal starts the battle with the first Guardian, a pride demon with an affinity to fire. After the battle Hawke will be able to upgrade The Hawke's Key with one kind of elemental damage or all of them if the exploit noted on that page is used. On the way to the next floor is a fight with a Genlock alpha.

You enter the floor in the south east corner and exit in the south west.

In the corridor leading right out of the first room, there is a Mark of the Binder used to unlock the second magical prison for the side-quest Malcolm's Will, along with the magical prison itself. The second Mark of the Binder is beyond in the next room. This prison contains an Abomination, who summons four Profane. Defeating the Abomination and the Profane updates the Malcolm's Will quest.

Map of the Area

In the next room, a Darkspawn Emissary animates a group of four Corpses. The second wave consists of the emissary and a larger group of corpses. A crumbling walkway to the west of the room contains a Viewpoint which triggers some party dialogue, and the room to the north (a long room with galleries overlooking the central pit) contains a big battle with Hurlocks, a Hurlock alpha, and a number of bolters.

Along the north side of the prison, there are two interlinked rooms of prison cells. The first of these two rooms contains the third and final magical prison as part of the Malcolm's Will quest. The two Marks of the Binder are located in the first prison room, and then just inside the next prison room. The prison holds a Desire demon who summons Corpses and skeleton archers to her defense. Defeating the desire demon and the other enemies completes the Malcolm's Will quest.

Heading down into the west side of the prison, into a long thin room with open galleries over the central pit, the party is attacked by a large group of Darkspawn, including Hurlock grunts, Hurlock alpha, and Genlock alpha.

Finally, the path south leads to the central room containing the next Seal. It is guarded by a Genlock alpha and an Ogre. The Guardian summons a number of replicas of itself as part of the battle; if the party focuses their attacks on the real Guardian all the replicas will die at once. After the battle Hawke can again upgrade the Key with a choice of an increase in attack speed, armor penetration, mana/stamina drain, or health drain.

There is pack of deepstalkers into the first clearing which attack in several waves.

On a dead-end path to the south of this clearing is the First Legionnaire's Journal, which triggers the optional side-quest The Paragon's Heir.

In the next clearing, the party is attacked by a large group of Darkspawn, including Genlock alpha, Hurlock alpha, and Hurlock bolters.

In a large submerged stone building to the north of the clearing is the Second Legionnaire's Journal, which continues the optional side-quest The Paragon's Heir.

You exit the clearing through a gap in the south-west corner between two griffon statues. Immediately ahead of you are stairs leading up which split into two directions. The steps on the turning to the right lead to a raised platform where you can pick up Dumat's Ritual Scroll for the Altar of Dumat side-quest. The path which continues straight ahead (i.e. heading towards the far west of the map) leads to a sunken room containing six torches. One of your party will suggest lighting the torches. To solve this puzzle you only need to light two torches, the middle torch on the north wall and the left torch on the south wall. Lighting all six activates the sarcophagus at the end of the room, which gives up 21+ gold in loot, and the Gloves which form part of the Regalia of Weisshaupt armor set. The gloves vary depending on Hawke's class:

Returning the bottom of those steps, you come out into another clearing, where you find the Altar of Dumat up some carved stone steps in the south-west corner of the map. At this point, you only have three of the four artifacts to perform the ritual. See the Altar of Dumat quest page for further details on the options of defiling the altar or performing the sacrificial ritual.

In a small gap to the south, there is a cave with a burning pool of water where you find the Sacred Urn of Dumat which is the final artifact for the Altar of Dumat quest.

In a small alcove just west of this cave is the Third Legionnaire's Journal, which continues the optional side-quest The Paragon's Heir.

Just before heading up the steps to the raised stone bridge, there is a side-path which leads to a small fortified area where Hawke finds the body of Tethras Gaven. If Hawke has found all three of the Legionnaire's Journals, they will speak the Dwarven prayer and completing the side quest The Paragon's Heir.

Continuing back across the stone walkway, the party is ambushed at the halfway point by a Genlock alpha. Once they have crossed the bridge, Hawke can explore the dead-end rocky path to the right that contains the Codex entry: Speculations on Kirkwall. Turning around to continue to the left which heads towards the seal triggers a fight with Darkspawn, including Hurlocks, a Hurlock alpha and an Emissary in the first wave, and Genlocks, a Genlock alpha and an Ogre in the second.

If Anders is in your party, then at this stage he will find Corypheus's calling too much to bear, and Justice will take over. The remaining party will have to fight and defeat Anders and two shades. Once he has been defeated, Anders rejoins the party. Anders does not suffer an injury for this defeat, though it will, by adding and removing him, potentially alter his position in the party configuration.

Finally, the Seal Guardian is reached. After the battle Hawke can again upgrade the Key. They have a choice of critical chance plus, critical damage plus, stun chance plus, or speed reduction of enemies.

Janeka's Grey Warden Unit

On exit, Larius appears again and warns Hawke about the Grey Wardens in the prison. Janeka then appears supported by three other wardens, and explains that instead of destroying Corypheus, she would like Hawke to help with harnessing his power. Hawke must decide to side with either Larius or Janeka (the decision can later be reversed). There is little overall difference between the two paths other than the puzzle you have to solve. The puzzle you must complete if siding with Larius is significantly more difficult. Hawke will have the opportunity to change sides later on, however initially siding with Janeka and then defecting to Larius later is the only option in which the other Wardens survive.

Note that the quest splits at this point, depending on which path is choosen:

Note: Only accessible if you side with Larius at the end of the Tower Base level.

Hawke will enter a room where they fight some Carta mercenaries after a brief dialog.

The puzzle to be solved involves rotating the columns so that sconces direct the appropriately colored beam from its starting sconce one wall to its ending sconce on another wall. While each color is on its own level, rotating a column affects all levels of sconces for that column, so that as one color is solved and another is being attempted, care must be taken to avoid ruining previously solved colors. When a color is properly connected from start to finish, it turns white. After a color is solved, seek out a power nexus for the next color, solve that color in the puzzle room and repeat.

Note: To proceed with the quest, Hawke only needs to solve the orange color which unlocks the opening to the rest of the level. Solving the rest of the colors is only required in order to get to the loot (see below) in the northern section.

In the northern section of the level is a room that is blocked by a green barrier and then a red barrier which will drop after the matching colors are solved in the puzzle room. In this room is a chest with some leveled gold and the headpiece of the unique armor set Regalia of Weisshaupt:

Killing them before attempting to kill Kel-Sarag will make killing Kel-Sarag much easier. They keep switching their locations among themselves but are easy to kill as they will not attack Hawke or anyone else and only try to protect Kel-Sarag. Larius will attack Kel-Sarag by default and cannot be controlled.

Note: It is possible to run into Janeka while still looking for a power nexus. She will act as if all of the colors have been solved, saying that the wards could not stop her. The battle proceeds the same way and afterwards, Hawke can choose to continue solving colors or continue on to The Final Seal.

Note: Only accessible if you side with Janeka at the end of the Tower Base level.

Larius traps Hawke on a floor of the prison with many doorways blocked by magical barriers. They can work with Janeka to remove particular barriers by interacting with a nearby Power Nexus. Each Power Nexus (when activated) removes one specific barrier, and Janeka can only activate one Power Nexus at a time. It is necessary to work through the maze, using the Power Nexus activation to bring down barriers.

If Hawke sided with Janeka, Larius will arrive after them, with the Wardens that took his side at the base of the tower. They may now opt to side with Larius instead. If they change their mind, Janeka is killed instantly by Larius, and the three remaining Grey Wardens will leave to alert the rest of the order about the situation. If Hawke did not change their mind, they must kill both Larius and the Wardens.

If Hawke sided with Larius, they will arrive to find Janeka and the three Wardens already there. Janeka will reveal that Larius forced Malcolm Hawke to become a blood mage or he would never see Leandra again. If Hawke changes sides, Larius will be killed by Janeka who will then send the three Wardens to guard the bridge. If Hawke sticks with Larius, they must kill both Janeka and the Wardens.

Note: Following the final battle, make sure to remove any equipment that you'd like to keep from Bethany or Carver if they are in the party, as they'll leave immediately after Hawke's return to Kirkwall. It is recommended to equip them with their exclusive weapons before the final battle: Bloodline (Legacy) or Staff of the New Growth for Bethany, Lineage or Grace-Maker for Carver. So decisions are regarding any accessories they may have been equipped with.

Corypheus will drop one of the following chestpieces which are part of the Regalia of Weisshaupt armor set:

Note: Bringing Anders against Corypheus will result in an additional amulet, Seal of Dumat, exclusive to him in the loot drop from Corypheus. Having Anders in the party will also add some dialog where Anders declares his disbelief in the Chantry lore that the Tevinter magisters of old corrupted the Golden City and brought the darkspawn corruption into Thedas. Seeing the amulet will make him change his mind on that issue. If the dialog (that the Chantry my be right about other things) is chosen will result Anders: rivalry (+5). Anders' dialogue in Legacy about the Golden City and the Magisters contradict his views and comments in Awakening and the Act II quest Tevinter Chantry Amulet, where he says he believes in the Chantry fable about the corruption of the Golden City by the Magisters.